17 months

Baby Doodle turned 17 months old on the first of the month. In keeping with my lackadaisical manner in which I've been posting I am writing this eight days late.

Rather than make a bulleted list of all of the many many new things baby Doodle does I'll write a few recent anecdotes.

The other day I was getting us ready to go to the playground -- packing a lunch, refilling our waters, collecting my phone and keys. Baby Doodle was anxious to leave as I had already told him we were going to the playground. Focused on my task at hand I distractedly said, "We can't leave until I put on your sunscreen." And kept going about my business. Baby Doodle left my view and returned with the sunscreen in his hand. He gave it to me and then mimed rubbing it on his arms. He had gone into the diaper bag, retrieved it and very clearly communicated that he wanted it applied immediately so we could get out and start having fun. He has done that same thing with my keys. When he's ready to go outside he takes the keys out of my bag and holds them up to the doorknob and says, "pen" for open.

Earlier today I was frustrated because the top half of the compost bin had become detached from the bottom and I had to get it back on in my pretty summer dress and shoes. Baby Doodle was outside with me walking around the yard. I said "shit" in my aggravated state and baby Doodle immediately repeated it over and over and over while pointing at the compost bin. He's very smart.

Baby Doodle has been putting two words together to form very short sentences. He says, "throw duck, dad car, two shoe, and potty chair." He says "throw duck" because for a while we were regularly feeding ducks (at the Wissahickon Creek, at a pond in Spring Lake, NJ and at the children's zoo at the Philly Zoo) and to feed ducks you have to throw the food into the water or at least toward them. He says "dad car" because we were following Mr. Doodlebug in his car and I pointed out that dad was driving that car in front of us and he repeated "dad car" many many times. He says "two shoe" whenever I have just gotten the second shoe on his foot. He says "potty chair" because yesterday I bought him one and he has enjoyed carrying it around and saying what it is. I tell him what its for and he repeats, poop, pee pee.

He dances by stomping his feet about randomly but has recently taken to spinning around in circles until he's so dizzy he falls over. We were in Haddonfield, NJ today and there was a band playing old rock and roll songs. Baby Doodle dazzled the crowd with his spinning, falling and then clapping.

Baby Doodle has also taken to spilling milk or water on the floor or table and then telling me it needs to be cleaned: "clean clean."

He has started to say things in public that aren't socially acceptable for adults to say, like pointing to a stranger on the train and saying "eye eye" when he saw a Muslim woman in a burqa that covered everything except her eyes.

There is so much more to say about the incredible cognitive developments that are ongoing in my little guy, but I can't possibly type them all, or even remember half of the cute things he does and says. He's adored wherever we go and that makes me so happy. It's hard to believe next month he'll be a year and a half! I could hug him all day long -- that's another one of his talents: giving hugs, and kisses.